Tagged: writing advice

Writing on the go, to me, is just called writing. I am always on the go. I have an active life, and I am busy with many things. Therefore, an important part of any tool for me is portability. I have a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, and a desktop that I use for writing. I prefer my desktop over everything else, but I have the others because life has other demands for me. One big thing I looked for in my writing tool is the portability, and the ability to work across multiple platforms.

Google works well on my windows desktop and laptop, and also works via apps on my smartphone and tablet. One drawback to the android app is that spell-check does not work. This can be an advantage sometimes, when I need to keep writing and suppress my need to constantly edit as I am writing. As it is, I switch to the desktop or laptop for final edits, and access to the spell-checker.

Another great tool inside the online version of the Google word processor program is the ability to research topics. I can highlight a word, and then go to the tools menu and select research. This will open up a side pane with relevant links. This is nice when I am doing some quick research for a story I am writing. It can be distracting, as I do have a tendency to love research. The word processor offers all of the basic formatting features I need, and allows for the exporting of documents in commonly used formats, so that I can port it over to Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word as needed.

The spreadsheet also comes in very handy. I use it to keep a “plot workbook” as I call it, with my notes for each chapter, POV, and character and place notes. This helps me to keep ideas, and to re-orient quickly when I resume working on a particular story.

In the future, I hope to band together with some other authors and publish an anthology. Google Drive allows me to collaborate easily with others. I believe it is even now possible to track who made what specific changes to a document.

It took me a while to settle on my writing tool. I do not like to post public criticisms, so I will not mention specific software, but I did try many. I tried dedicated writing apps, designed specifically for writing stories. I tried various combinations of software in conjunction with cloud storage, I even tried some popular note-writing apps to see if they would work out for me. Google docs is what I ended up coming back to.

I remember reading a review of an app, and it really resonated with me when the author of the article stated that power users often like more simple app interfaces, whereas newbies usually like “flashier” apps. I am not sure about the power user versus newbie distinction, but I know that I do appreciate a simple interface. Google Docs does provide that simple interface that I appreciate.

One more great thing about using the Google Docs on Google Drive, is that Google Docs do not count toward the space limit. In other words, you can have an unlimited amount of Google formatted documents on Google Drive.

Thanks for the positive responses to the first installment. It certainly is motivating in keeping me going!

2. Creative Direction

E.L. James. Love her. Hate her. The fact is, there are many people that have purchased and read the 50 Shades books, and they have been wildly popular. I myself have not read them, and based on what I have heard, they are not my cup of tea. One thing these books have really seem to have contributed to is that openly reading sex stories, and talking about sex openly, have become more normal. A really big thing has been that it has become more normal for women to have a sexual identity and a sexuality. As a therapist, I think this is all great.

My point with this is that this book has opened up something of a social movement. I think that society has already been moving toward a more positive view of sexuality and feminine sexuality, so this is not the only factor, but I think it is still hard to deny that these novels have had an impact. If you are not aware, they are fan fiction, based off the Twilight novels (which I have also not read, but they are in my wife’s teacup.)

These novels are fan fiction, and are riddled with raunchy sex that no one has ever openly admitted to enjoying, outside of the red light district in any major city. By every traditional metric, they really had no reason to be successful, and yet they were wildly successful. There is even a movie adaptation coming soon.

As I stated in the previous post on this topic, I do think there are great reasons that traditional publishing has worked for many years. However, I also think there are reasons that self-published novels are rising in popularity. The 50 Shades books would have never been published by a traditional publisher. As I understand the history of this story, it started on websites dedicated to fan fiction, and was later picked up by a small, nontraditional print-on-demand press. From there, E.L. James went on to be named one of Time’s one-hundred most influential people of the year in 2012.

Whether the books are on my “must read” list or not, I have to recognize their reach and impact. I have heard the writing is very poor, yet these books started a movement often referred to as “mommy porn,” that helped many women get more in touch with their sexuality. By all traditional rules and reasoning, this should never have happened. Whether you love E.L. James and her writing or not, you have to respect the impact. This new direction was only possible through a nontraditional means, forging new ground, with new rules.

So that was my point with all this. I truly believe that writing is an artistic expression. Yet no other art form has so many “rules” that people have to follow. Try to find the equivalent to “show don’t tell” in the world of painting. Realistically, I do not think you will find it, because no other medium of art is bound with so many rules regarding how to express yourself in an acceptable manner. I want to reiterate that I am not a black-and-white, all or nothing type of thinker. I do very much strongly believe that authors should have their books professionally edited, regardless of how they choose to publish them. Therefore, I am not a completely “throw the rule book out the window” type of person. At the same time, I do not know of any other art form that is so rule bound as the writing industry, and artists at times should test the limits and functionality of those rules. E.L. James tested those time honored rules with the 50 shades books, and not only proved some of them to be outdated, but also had an artistic impact on society.

Traditional publishing uses the antediluvian rules that are the very foundation of publishing since before the Gutenberg press, and those rules have a reason and a purpose, because they have been proven to work. I myself would use a traditional publisher in a heartbeat if the chance presented itself, and I believed that the contract would be beneficial for both parties. However, I really believe that the ability to self-publish has become more than a vanity, it has allowed for creative expression by artists that would have normally not have been allowed to publish, and one may argue the impact has been negative, but one cannot argue that those artists have had an impact. In the end, I think societygenerally benefits from less fettered, creative expression from modern artists, whether it comes from paint or pen.

More on this topic in a later post, stay tuned! Please also comment below, and let me know what you think!

About A Pint with the Professor

I do believe that the experiences we have, and who we are as people shapes what kind of writers we are and strongly impacts our voice as writers. I teach psychology courses for a major university, and I work in the mental health field. I really do infuse much of my writing with what I understand about people and their psychological make up.

I came up with the idea for this feature on my blog from multiple different sources. It would only be right to acknowledge them, and it might also be interesting to some. Marian Lizzi, an editor, recently wrote in the Writer magazine, that she likes to read books where a smart person is writing about something fun. She said,”Some projects—even at the proposal stage—make you feel like you’re having a pint with a favorite professor. (Not in a creepy way.)” Thus, the name of the feature. Along with this, I realized that I love hearing about how writers think about their own writing and the fictional worlds they create.

I also have to admit a somewhat selfish reason to write this. It is good practice for me to think about these things as well. In order to write something for you, I will have to research, and wrap my head around it first. That helps me to be a better writer, because ultimately I am a very cognitive writer. If it also helps you too, then what an exciting thing for me to be a part of!

So in this series, which I aim to publish each Thursday, I will share how I believe the things I know well, like psychology and sociology impact my writing, and impact the writing of writers that I admire. Each week I will try to preview the next section, so that you can let me know of any stories that provide effective examples of the concept coming up. I would love to feature the work of other writers as examples of the themes I am talking about each week.

What you can expect from me is not the ins and outs of grammar, or the rules about writing. Those things are important, but are not my focus here. You should know, that as the Cat in the Hat says, I am not really a rules guy. So I do not see myself as an authority whom you should not question. I see these things as just my ideas. I don’t mind debating them with you over a pint.

I will focus on the things that I know. I will explore psychology, sociology and other related concepts as they apply to stories and characters. I hope you find it fun, interesting, and informative.

So pull up a stool, grab a pint, and order some fish and chips. Let’s have some fun.

My first post, scheduled for Thursday next week (7/19) will be an examination of the social psychology factors that influence characters. Social psychology is the study of how society impacts each individual person’s psyche.